On Tuesday, September 20th, Fr. Christopher from St. Mark's offered a compelling training at Canterbury on Relational Meetings as a Spiritual Practice for leaders from Canterbury and St. Francis, Rio Rancho. Canterbury leaders who participated in the workshop were Sylvia+, Pat+, Warren & Anne Marie Werner-Smith, Dick & Janet Steele, Bob & Pat Eads, Anne McCormick, and Larry Malick.

A relational meeting (also known as an "individual meeting" or a "one-on-one") is a community organizing tool. It's a focused, intentional, 30-45 minute meeting between two people characterized by deep listening and mutual exchange.

What's it for? According to Christopher+, the purpose of a relational meeting is:

to build a relational culture in your church and beyond it

to tap into the energy of another person's story, talent, hopes, and dreams through curiosity

to learn the art of "listening" and asking the right questions to get at what is important to another person

to identify potential leaders in your church & community

to establish and deepen relationships that allow us to find meaning and act collectively on what we believe as a community

Relational meetings are a core spiritual practice for Christopher+ and the people of St. Mark's. Each vestry member commits to doing at least 2 relational meetings each month. This past summer at St. Mark's, 50 members stepped up to be leaders for a "Summer of Listening" and between them conducted 260 relational meetings among the members of St. Marks over the course of the summer.

We look forward to continuing to partner with the leaders of St. Marks & St. Francis as we begin to integrate relational meetings into our spiritual practice at Canterbury.